The NBI agents were reportedly from Manila, fueling speculations that the victims were members of the gang that staged the daring holdup of a Rolex shop inside the Greenbelt 5 Mall in Makati last week and who may have fled to Cebu to cool their heels.

Radio reports of the incident had been sketchy, as no one from the police nor the local NBI had been willing to talk or go on record.

A number of powerfully armed robbers posing as bomb disposal experts went inside the Greenbelt Mall in Makati unchallenged by mall guards, despite the fact that they wore unofficial uniforms and came in a private vehicle.

A shootout ensued when two policemen acting as bodyguards to a politician became suspicious and fired at the robbers, one of whom got killed in the exchange of fire.

The rest of the robbers managed to flee with some P6 million worth of expensive watches and jewelry.

Radio reports said the shootout happened past 5 p.m. at the Dodong's Duplex, a beach resort in barangay Estaca where the victims rented.

A teacher who refused to be identified said she was on the way home from school when she heard gunfire inside the resort.

Delimos said the NBI-Manila and NBI-7 agents have been monitoring the victims, who rented a room at the resort, for the past several days.

The resort was allegedly owned by a Dutch national but it is being taken care of by his Filipina wife's sister named Bebeng.

Bebeng, who lives near the resort, refused to comments when reporters tried to interview her.

Sr. Insp. Milo Dagsdas, chief of Compostela Police Station, said that the NBI coordinated with them.

Dagasdas said he did not know who were the targets of the NBI until they received the shooting alarm that prompted them to respond to the crime scene.

The injured victims were reportedly taken to a hospital in Danao City, the reports said.

Two weeks after he filed the criminal complaint for libel against Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal and five other church officials, former Marian monk Venancio Cabillon is facing criminal complaints for estafa and acts of lasciviousness.

University of Cebu President Augusto W. Go yesterday visited Mayor Tomas Osmeña at City Hall to inform the mayor that he is ready to accept the proposed compromise agreement to pay business taxes for his school.

(Updated 11:30 p.m.) Typhoon "Santi" (international name: Mirinae), the fourth cyclone to enter the Philippine area of responsibility in October, has maintained its maximum winds of 150kph and is expected to hit provinces in central Luzon on Saturday morning while bringing heavy rains and winds to Metro Manila, the state weather bureau said Thursday night.

In the aftermath of Tropical Storm "Ondoy" and Typhoon "Pepeng," the Philippines' ambassador to the United Nations recently underscored to the world body the important role space-based technology can play in helping countries prone to natural disasters prepare effective responses to calamities.

MANILA - With countries recovering from the global economic crisis, the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) on Thursday said oil prices could hit $80 per barrel in early 2010, but warned against the imposition of oil subsidies.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has issued an executive order authorizing the National Food Authority, Food Terminal Inc. and the Philippine International Trading Corp. to intervene in the stabilization of the supply and price of basic items.

The labor department on Thursday reminded private employers of the pay rules for the nationwide special non-working days on November 1 (All Saints Day) and 2 (All Souls Day), the national holidays on November 27 and 28 (Eid'l Adha), and regular holiday on November 30, 2009 (Bonifacio Day).

Labor Secretary Marianito Roque advised the country's employers in the private sector on the pay rules to be observed during the following holidays.

For November 1 (All Saints Day) and 2, 2009, the pay rules for special non-working days apply as follows:

* If worked, the employee is entitled to 130 percent of his or her daily rate for the first eight hours, and to an additional 30 percent of his or her hourly rate on the said day for work performed in excess of eight hours;

* If not worked, he or she is not entitled to any payment, unless there is a favorable company policy, practice or collective bargaining agreement (CBA) granting payment for special days even if not worked;

* If worked and falling on the employee's rest day, the employee is entitled for the first eight hours to 150 percent of his or her regular daily rate, and for work performed in excess of eight hours, plus 30 percent of his or her hourly rate on the said day.

For the November 27 and 28 (Eid'l Adha), and November 30, 2009 (Bonifacio Day), the pay rules for regular holidays apply as follows:

* If the holiday falls on an employee's regular workday:

- If worked, the employee is entitled to 200 percent of his or her basic wage for the first eight hours and, for work in excess of the eight hours, to an additional 30 percent of his or her hourly rate on the said day;

- If not worked, the employee is entitled to 100 percent of his or her regular daily rate, provided he or she was present or was on leave with pay on the workday immediately preceding the holiday.

* If the day is the employee's rest day:

- If worked, the employee is entitled, for the first eight hours, to 200 percent of his or her daily rate plus 30 percent and, for work in excess of eight hours, plus 30 percent of his or her hourly rate on the said day;

- If not worked, the employee is entitled to 100 percent of his or her regular daily rate, provided he or she was present or was on leave with pay on the workday immediately preceding the holiday.

* Where the day immediately preceding the holiday is a non-work day in the establishment or the scheduled rest day of the employee, he or she shall not be deemed on leave of absence on that day, in which case he or she shall be entitled to the holiday pay.

Any clarifications regarding the pay rules may be made with the labor department's Bureau of Working Conditions at tel. no. 527-3000 local 301.

Roque cited the following laws that are the bases for the pay rules:

* Proclamation 1699, issued December 24, 2008, made November 2, 2009, a Monday, an additional special non-working holiday throughout the country "to strengthen and foster closer ties among Filipino families during the All Saints Day;

* Proclamation 1808, issued on April 12, 2009, declared November 27 and 28, 2009, Eid'l Adha, as national holidays; and

* Proclamation 1699 also maintained the regular holiday in observance of Bonifacio Day on November 30, 2009, a Monday; it marks the 146th birth anniversary of the Filipino hero Andres Bonifacio, known as the "Great Plebeian."

Previously registered voters are encouraged to check their status with the local election offices to ensure that they are still eligible to vote in the 2010 automated elections, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said on Thursday.

Former Senator John Henry "Sonny" Osmeña will definitely be running for mayor of Cebu City in the upcoming 2010 elections.

The former senator said he is also willing to reconcile with his estranged cousin, Mayor Tomas Osmeña, who earlier said that he is open for reconciliation with Sonny and his other political nemesis on condition that they would no longer attack the South Road Properties (SRP) which he considers as his "baby."

In response, Sonny sent a letter to the city government last week asking its officials to brief him about the SRP.

DEPUTY House Speaker Pablo Garcia yesterday denied reports his son Winston will run for Cebu City mayor in 2010, saying the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) president only wants to vote in the city.

PRESIDENTIAL aspirant Gilberto Teodoro said yesterday he will let the administration party have the last say on whether Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia will be fielded as his vice presidential candidate in 2010.

If given the chance to lead the country, Defense Secretary Gilberto "Gibo" Teodoro Jr. said he will prioritize the promotion of tourism in the country and it will start in the whole island of Bantayan in Cebu.

Senator Francisco "Chiz" Escudero vehemently denied on Thursday that the measly P200 million funding allegedly committed by the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC) was the reason why he left the party.

MANILA - Former president Joseph Estrada on Thursday said he is open to a coalition with senator and presidential candidate Francis Escudero but rejected a proposal to take the latter as his running mate in the 2010 elections.

MANILA - Sen. Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, presidential candidate of the Liberal Party, said he may meet with Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC) stalwarts to negotiate a coalition for the 2010 national elections.

The low rating of Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro so far in surveys on presidential aspirants is making it difficult for him to attract a running mate in next year's elections, a high-ranking member of the administration party said Thursday.

The militant women's party-list group Gabriela formally announced the senatorial bid of its three-term representative, Liza Maza, as it unveiled its "women's platform for action" for 2010 during its national convention which opened on Thursday.

A bomb exploded Tuesday night inside the house of a Muslim cleric, killing him and two other family members in President Quirino, Sultan Kudarat, a belated police report reaching here on Thursday said.

For their "scurrilous attacks" on the Supreme Court, a father and daughter were cited for indirect contempt. In a resolution by the high court's Special Second Division, lawyer Oliver Lozano was fined P10,000 while daughter Evangeline, also a lawyer, was reprimanded.

The Department of Health, in coordination with two foreign agencies, will implement a second neo-natal tetanus survey in Negros Oriental to determine if a mass tetanus immunization campaign in high-risk areas in the country was necessary.

As many as 1.4 million Filipino adults (aged 20 and above) acquired diabetes in the last five years mainly because of unhealthy diets and sedentary lifestyles, according to data compiled by anti-diabetes advocates.

A Filipina election volunteer was among five United Nations personnel killed in Wednesday's terrorist attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, the Philippine Mission to the United Nations said Thursday.

Ambassador Hilario Davide, Philippine Permanent Representative to the United Nations, identified the slain Filipina as Jossie G. Esto, 40, an Electoral Outreach and Training Coordinator under the United Nations Volunteers Program.

Esto was killed when gunmen stormed the Bekhtar Guest House in Kabul's Shar-e-Now District being used by UN and other international workers, the ambassador said .

The dawn attack, which left four other UN staff members dead, was later claimed by the Taliban.

Davide said Esto was a former school teacher who also worked as an electoral officer and civic education officer in the Philippines before serving as a UN volunteer in Liberia, Timor-Leste and Nepal. She was married with two children aged 14 and 11.

Davide said Esto is the fourth UN staff member from the Philippines to die in terrorist attacks targeting the world body. In 2003, Ranillo Buenaventura, a staff member of the UN Office of the Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq was killed in the suicide car bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad.

Last year, Gene Luna, a staff member of the World Food Program, was among the fatalities in the terrorist bombing of UN offices in Algiers, Algeria, while Perseveranda So, a staff member of the United Nations Children's Fund, was among the victims in a suicide bomb attack on a hotel housing international workers in Peshawar, Pakistan.

Esto's death came five years after Angelito Nayan, a Filipino UN volunteer assisting in the 2004 Afghan elections, was kidnapped in Kabul and held for three weeks by the Taliban before he was released.

Davide said Esto had been in Afghanistan for just over a year and was among several UN volunteers working with the United Nations Development Program/Enhancing Legal and Electoral Capacity for Tomorrow (UNDP/Elect) Project, which is the primary vehicle through which the international community supports elections in Afghanistan.

UNDP/Elect works closely with electoral bodies such as the Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan and provides project and program design and management, mobilization of donor funding, activity coordination, reporting, and the channeling of funds for electoral support, Davide's office said in a statement.

UNV executive coordinator Flavia Pansieri expressed condolences on behalf of the organization's 8,000 volunteers and staff to the families of Esto and Yah-Lydia Wonyene of Liberia, another UN Volunteer who was also killed in the attack.

"Jossie and Lydia dedicated their knowledge and experience as volunteers to support the people of Afghanistan," Pansieri said.

"As volunteers, they demonstrated a true commitment to the cause of peace and development and their sacrifice will not be forgotten."

KUALA LUMPUR (AP) – Malaysian authorities confiscated more than 15,000 Bibles imported from Indonesia in recent months because they referred to "God" as "Allah," a translation that has been banned in this Muslim-majority country, Church officials said Thursday.

The Philippines Olympic Committee has submitted 247 athletes and 132 officials to the Laos Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee with the Olympic body ready to shoulder the expenses of delegation members excluded from the official list of the Philippine Sports Commission.

Despite the brutal killing of "Kasagbua," a three-year-old male Philippine eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi), by hunters in July 2008, the Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF) released two more eagles at the Mt. Kitanglad Mountain Range in Bukidnon on Thursday morning.

MANILA - Hunk actor Piolo Pascual is set to release his sixth album called "Decades: Songs from 50s, 60s and 70s" under Star Records. The "Lovers in Paris" actor said the album will be composed of classic love songs.

MANILA – Actress Angel Locsin has finally put all speculations to rest after admitting that the break-up rumor involving her and Luis Manzano was in fact true. During the 25th anniversary of women's group Gabriela, Locsin said she and Manzano rarely communicates ever since the split.